Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 818 Tax Exemption for the First 3 Years

Zhou Guo said hurriedly, "My lord, you don't have to rush to praise me. Look at all these people. After all, my ability is limited. It takes money to settle so many people. Most of my money has been invested in this over the years. My lord, you can't rely on me alone to settle so many refugees, right?"

County Magistrate Yao paused and stammered, "Say... what you mean... ah, Master Zhou... what do you want?"

To be honest, Zhou Guo hadn't decided what to ask for. Song County was too poor, and he didn't have land or money. He thought for a while and said, "Look, I'm just starting out, and I have to wait until at least the year after next to harvest food. You can't collect taxes from these refugees for the first five years of settling down and registering their families, right?"

"Five years??" County Magistrate Yao nearly choked to death. "Five years is not enough. It's too long. Two years at most. You can plant next year and the harvest will be higher the year after. You will be able to pay the tax the year after. You know the tax in the north is the lightest in the world."

Zhou Guo said, "I know, but you can see that this is salty and bitter land. There was no grass growing on it before. They are refugees and have no money. Otherwise, you can give them resettlement allowances. You can't let me do it all by myself. You know my family background is not even good enough in the north. Even if I invest all the money I have earned in the past few years, it will not be enough. My family still needs to eat."

County Magistrate Yao looked at her and said, "You don't have any, but they have their own. These refugees have worked for you for so long, and you always pay them wages. Over such a long time, I have saved enough money for the resettlement fee. My county government is so poor that I don't even have money to buy new tables, chairs and benches, so how can I afford to pay them resettlement fees!"

Zhou Guo was speechless. "How can we be so poor? Wasn't the harvest in the county good last year? In recent years, there are more people and more shops in the county. The taxes paid by merchants are much higher than those paid by farmers. How can you not come up with this money?"

She herself is half a businessman, and it really hurts when she pays taxes every year.

Yao County Magistrate said confidently: "No matter how much we collect, it doesn't belong to our county government. We have to hand it in. Besides, it's just a little more than in previous years. Compared with other counties, we are still very poor."

Zhou Guo spread his hands and said, "No matter how poor the county government is, it can't be as poor as me. I didn't ask you to give me grain subsidies or land. I just wanted to let these people pay less taxes for a few years. It's for my own good. Why don't you agree to this?"

"It's not that I don't agree, but five years is too long. Think about it, with all your land, your fertilizer, and you, why won't this land prosper? Why won't there be a good harvest? Two years is enough. After all, it's not easy to run a county government. Besides, the border is now at war year after year, and the food and military expenses all come from the north. We really can't avoid it for too long!"

"You think too highly of me. I don't have that much ability. Besides, these lands were originally converted from salty and bitter lands. Salty and bitter lands were not considered arable land before, so there was no tax to collect. A few years of less tax is not a big deal for you. It took five years for these lands to be truly converted."

"…How about three years? For three years, not only will I not collect taxes from them, I will also exempt you from paying taxes on your land. How about that?"

At present, the major taxes for the common people in the north are of two types: land tax and poll tax. Tenant farmers who do not have their own land do not have to pay land tax, but they must pay poll tax.

Zhou Guo's lips curled up slightly, "If that's the case, I'd like to thank you on their behalf. Although I may not be able to grow this land well in three years, I'll try my best. At least after three years, I can plant rice and get the seeds back."

County Magistrate Yao was also very happy. As Zhou Guo said, these lands were originally salty and bitter lands that no one wanted. Now these salty and bitter lands finally have the hope of becoming fertile fields. No matter how many years it takes, it will be a profit for Song County, and it will be extra profit.

Zhou Guo took him for a walk on the land. There were hundreds of hectares of land. County Magistrate Yao was really envious and shocked. He thought to himself that if these lands were distributed to the refugees, they would be enough for thousands of families.

Why didn't he know before that this salty and bitter land could be treated in this way?

Or maybe he knows...

Zhou Guo knew what he was thinking by looking at his expression and said, "Sir, we have actually explored Song County before. There are many salty and bitter lands like this one, but the other lands are not as big as this one. The big ones are about 100 to 200 acres, and the small ones are dozens of acres. All these scattered lands add up to at least several thousand acres, and I'm afraid it's even more. If we can improve it, even if each household has ten acres of land, it can accommodate many people."

County Magistrate Yao knew this very well, so he was so happy. Seeing that his political achievements that might go down in history were right before his eyes, the ecstasy in his heart almost overwhelmed him. There were many such lands in Song County, and the remaining ones added together were not much worse than this piece of land.

He looked at Zhou Guo and said, "Mr. Zhou, I have to ask you for help. Can you lend me Tang He? I will return him to you when I am done with him."

Zhou Guo didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Sir, Tang He is a free man, not a servant of my family. It's not my turn to lend him money. After Cheng Ding's business is done, I can ask him for you."

After thinking for a while, he said, "Actually, those plots of land are not that big, and they don't necessarily have to be in Tanghe. I have a few veterans on my farm. They have dug wells, opened rivers, and repaired dams. Now they are helping me to develop the water conservancy in this land. They are more than enough for those small plots of land."

County Magistrate Yao was overjoyed. "Thank you very much, Mr. Zhou. These lands are related to the livelihood of these refugees. If they are really improved in the future, they will be their own lands. I will recruit workers later."

Zhou Guo was startled, feeling like something was wrong.

When everyone saw him in his official robes, although they didn't know who he was, they still knelt down out of fear, "Your Excellency!"

The sound is uneven.

County Magistrate Yao smiled and said, "Get up, get up. Thank you for your hard work. In a few days, the government will have other land to renovate in the same way. I hope you will all come to work then."

The refugees were somewhat flattered; they had never seen an official speak to them so kindly.

They all agreed.

County Magistrate Yao was smiling.

Zhou Guo almost laughed out loud. They were trying to poach all her people.

Once those lands are cultivated, they will be distributed to these people. Then they won't have to rent her lands to farm them, right?

Although she felt like her property was robbed, she was still very happy. Of course it was better to have her own land. She didn't have to pay rent, and after paying taxes, the rest was hers. She would definitely be more motivated than if she had to farm the land for herself.

He smiled and said, "Sir, are you really going to share those lands with them after they are ready?"

Lord Yao said, "Of course. Can I keep it for myself? Can you let me go?"